A bill that would protect Arizona State Parks revenue from legislative sweeps skipped over the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, taking it one step closer to becoming law.
HB 2362, authored by Rep. Karen Fann, R–Prescott, has received House approval and an endorsement from the Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee.

Arizona parks officials and local governments in the Phoenix and Flagstaff areas are moving to spend up to $52 million of land conservation money that legislators envisioned being used instead to help keep the budget in the black.

The Arizona State Parks Board voted Wednesday to keep open five more parks slated for closure next month, leaving only four on the chopping block just months after the board voted to close nearly all state parks.

Arizona State Parks is bristling at a late amendment to a bill that would force the agency to lease its most popular park to Lake Havasu City, a move that would be a significant hit to the agency's already battered budget.